Abstract
Road networks are disseminated of bridge structures whose typology reflects the time of design and construction of the transportation infrastructure and its relevance in the reference geographical area. Among others, masonry bridges are still widely operational, especially in those regions affected by a limited urbanization and a very high landscape value. As a consequence, the maintenance and the reliability of existing structures is a key issue for owners and managers of road and railway infrastructures. This circumstance leads to the development of an integrated approach able to cover the needs of knowledge of the technological and structural features of the bridge along with its history and current conditions. The main contribution of the study lies in the implementation of such an interdisciplinary approach through the application of archaeological stratigraphic method and 3D data management to historical masonry bridges. The survey and inspection protocol, whose first results are here presented, aims to improve the knowledge of the assets, and facilitate the visual inspection. The results refer to a road infrastructure located along the Aterno River in the surroundings of L’Aquila (Central Italy) and point out promising perspectives in terms of feasibility and scalability of the approach to large stocks of assets.
Highlights
Design and erection of buildings and infrastructures reflect the scientific and technical knowledge of the time of construction, but they point out the expected performance associated to given loading scenarios
The Aterno River basin is enriched by small natural and anthropic canalizations, and by some tributaries such as the Raiale, the Raio and the Vetoio. This river and its area of interest were chosen because in addition to being exposed to a medium and high hydrogeological risk, with some areas prone to flooding, it is characterized by the presence of different types of infrastructures that enrich the subject of the study
The last restoration of the structure is evident on the two parapets of the bridge, done with medium and small-sized stones laid on sub-horizontal rows with abundant mortar elevation (AA’) and with stones placed with greater irregularity on the NW one on the SE elevation (BB’)
Summary
Design and erection of buildings and infrastructures reflect the scientific and technical knowledge of the time of construction, but they point out the expected performance associated to given loading scenarios. The attention is first focused on the assessment of the role of the so-called stratigraphic method—a privileged tool for the archaeological investigation of excavation and historical buildings—in the structural and condition assessment of masonry bridges This method is used in accordance with other types of knowledge, such as damage identification and surface conservation assessment, and the chemical, physical analysis, and technological characteristics of the construction materials or the evaluation of empirical knowledge of the ways of building.
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